A fuel injection valve, which uses a magnetic attractive force generated by energization of a coil to drive a valve member, is conventionally known. Such a fuel injection valve includes a plurality of magnetic members to form a magnetic circuit, as is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-47199. In the case of a fuel injection valve disclosed in this publication, a core, an armature, and a housing, which surround a coil, form a magnetic circuit. In such a structure, a magnetic attractive force is generated between the core and the armature to drive a valve body.
If a fuel injection valve is applied to a direct injection type engine as in the case of the fuel injection valve disclosed in the above-cited publication, the fuel injection valve is mounted on a cylinder head of the engine. In this case, since the fuel injection valve is fixed to the cylinder head, a load in an axial direction is applied to the fuel injection valve. A plurality of magnetic members forming a magnetic circuit in an injector are respectively fixed to other members by welding or the like. Therefore, if a load is applied to one of the magnetic members, there is a possibility that the magnetic member fixed to the magnetic member under the load may also be deformed.
In order to ensure the fuel injection characteristic of the fuel injection valve, it is necessary to precisely control a distance between a fixed core and a movable core such as an armature, that is, the amount of lift of the valve member. However, if a load is applied to the fuel injection valve as described above, there is a possibility that each of the magnetic member of the fuel injection valve may be deformed. Accordingly, even if the distance between the fixed core and the movable core is precisely controlled when the fuel injection valve is mounted, the distance between the fixed core and the movable core is changed by the load applied to the fuel injection valve when the fuel injection valve is provided on the engine. As a result, there arises a problem that the fuel injection characteristic of the fuel injection valve changes when the fuel injection valve is mounted on the engine.